Drying large floors or other surfaces, such as artificial athletic playing surfaces, which have been soaked with water by washing or otherwise, requires considerable time and labor. Prior devices have been proposed such as the apparatus disclosed by Houser in U.S. Pat. No. 2,989,769. The Houser apparatus is illustrative of the teachings of the prior art in two particular ways. Firstly, water drawn from the surface being dried is caused to be stored within a tank internally of the apparatus. Such devices must, therefore, be frequently emptied, the time lost in this manual discharge process usually exceeding the time needed for each filling of the storage tank. Secondly, Houser employs a vacuum pump to draw an air/water mixture into the apparatus, the vacuum pump being of a high power rating, and, therefore, being costly, in order that the water/air mixture can be drawn to a relatively great height above the floor before separation of the water from the air occurs. Thus, expensive vacuum-producing apparatus is required to power prior art devices due to the structures and modes of operation employed previous to the present invention. The following additional U.S. patents illustrate further developments in this art:
U.S. Pat. Nos:
365,192 -- June 21, 1887 PA1 434,178 -- Aug. 12, 1890 PA1 1,498,255 -- June 17, 1924 PA1 2,223,963 -- Dec. 3, 1940 PA1 2,237,830 -- Apr. 8, 1941 PA1 3,039,122 -- June 19, 1962.
The present invention provides floor drying apparatus capable of removing moisture from a large surface area both quickly and efficiently. The present apparatus can be caused to operate in an unattended manner when surface elevation conditions are appropriate. Otherwise, the apparatus can be manually propelled or self-propelled over the surface area which is to be dried. The present apparatus particularly provides a floor drying apparatus wherein vacuum producing means draws a stream of air between a wet surface and a squeegee member, thereby entraining water into the air stream. The entrained water/air mixture is drawn under the influence of the vacuum-producing means into a plenum chamber disposed immediately above the entrance openings through which the mixture is brought into the apparatus. The plenum chamber is disposed within the apparatus at as low a level relative to the surface being dried as is possible in order that the relatively heavy water/air mixture need not be lifted to a height greater than is absolutely necessary. Thus, a relatively less powerful and less expensive vacuum pump can be used due to the fact that the water/air mixture is lifted only a few inches above the surface being dried. The velocity of the water-air mixture entering the plenum chamber is caused to decrease and become laminar, thereby allowing the heavier water to fall into a collection container where said water is discharged by a water pump from the apparatus, a hose channeling the water to a sump or other drain remote from the surface being dried. The vacuum pump and water pump are preferably driven by one prime mover, such as by an electric motor, which is geared to drive each of the pumps at their most efficient speeds. Thus, a vacuum pump and a water pump can be simultaneously driven by one prime mover to accomplish two separate and necessary functions at optimum efficiency, thereby allowing the use of relatively less powerful and less costly vacuum-producing means in the present apparatus.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a floor drying apparatus of the vacuum type which is capable of efficient and rapid removal of moisture from a large surface area.
It is another object of the invention to provide a portable or self-propelled floor dryer that is inexpensive to manufacture and operate.
It is further object of the invention to provide a floor drying apparatus having a vacuum pump and a water pump driven at their most efficient relative speeds by one prime mover, the vacuum pump lifting only a few inches the water being drawn from the surface of the floor being dried.